


They're My Kids, You Know

by sleeplessflower



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Chess, John IS Gay, Kind of gay, angst ??, episode 68, john had a husband, john has kids, john is NOT in control, kids talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 05:02:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11844477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeplessflower/pseuds/sleeplessflower
Summary: “I got kids! I do! I got kids.” Merle said over John’s gentle laughter. And all John could think was; I know, I know, I’m so sorry.John i no longer in control.//Drabble





	They're My Kids, You Know

**Author's Note:**

> this was a lil thing that i thought up and im like well i have to write that ship becuse obviously john was gay and had kids because hes old and yes  
> uhm i took the legit dialogue from the podcast from here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UPPTP_QKSoEODhNpDYeBzz4Pn6W7DP5wBmDP7kcSH3g/edit  
> title is from kids by two door cinema club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwGu3FW4-u4

 

 

  _“Do you have any—I’m sorry – did you have any children Merle?” John starts the conversation this time, setting up the board. White and black pieces rose out of the board, the black pieces mottled with different hues; veins of bright blues and oranges. Merle took a sip of water._

_“Uh, no I don’t.” Merle looked at the pieces on the board, and then at John. John nodded, and Merle took the first move. “Haven’t found the right gal, I suppose.” John watched Merle move his piece, and moved in kind. “What about you?”_

_John paused. He took a moment, brushing his hands through his hair. “I did.” His eyes trailed Merle’s movements. “I lost custody of them when got divorced though.”_

_“Woah, woah, woah.” Merle interrupted. “You got married?”_

_“Yes, I did.” John chuckled, making his move, taking one of Merle’s pawns. “I was young and impulsive, and I thought he was the love of my life.” He paused. “But it turned out he wasn’t.”_

_“Well, that sucks.” Merle added, trying to keep the conversation going, but also trying not to lose too quickly. He took a moment contemplating his next move._

_“Oh, it does, doesn’t it?” John made his move almost immediately after Merle’s. “Although I think it was better being away from him, in the end.” He took a sip of water. “And I do admit I wasn’t the best father.”_

_“You, a bad father?” Merle chuckled. “Forgive me, but I can’t really see how you’d be a bad father.”_

_“That’s surprising, frankly.”_

***

 

The hunger looked down at the plane. Glee filled it as it looked down at the insignificant little world that they were next to consume. For so long, it had searched for this plane, with its precious light.

Something within the hunger squirmed.

It tried to quell the squirm, trying to push it down.

“Please.” It heard John say, as he tried to regain control. “I know he’s out there. Let me negotiate and maybe they’ll surrender. Maybe we can figure something out.”

 _Shut up._ It said, sending down more and more of itself to try and take over this plane.

“Just give me five minutes.”

_No._

“Come on.” John tried to grasp, tried to pull at the strings of the hunger, the being that he created.

_What will it do? We are going to take this plane and its light regardless._

“Just let me talk to someone one last time.” John was trying his best to convince it. They had been here for almost a year, and John had wanted to talk to Merle since he had seen him with his friends, with his **children.** It was something that had niggled at John for the past goddamn year.  “Just let me talk to-“

_Talk to who? To what? To a friend? What do you wish to accomplish?_

“What can I do to convince you?” John asked.

_We don’t know._

“You -? “ John had to take a moment too look at the cards he could play. “You don’t know? A-And ‘we’? What kind of fucking trip are you on?” he let his voice boom. “You are but an extension of me. And I am asking you, one last time, to talk to an old friend.”

He could feel it cave and took a breath. “Please.”

_Very well. But be aware. We will be watching. And we can take control whenever we want. Do not waste our time._

John could feel his control slowly leaking back to him. He flexed his proverbial fingers, relaxing lightly. Time to find Merle.

 

***

 

Merle appeared in a black space, in front of a black marble table. As he looked, he saw two high-backed chairs, and on the table was a chess set. The walls and floors and ceiling space were all… Hunger. And sitting in a chair on his side of the table was John. Who, Merle saw looked… not great. His body was sort of covered in colourful rifts, kind of like the stuff that was all over the walls and on the floors and on the table. John looked at Merle, how worn he looked. How... different he was. It seemed john had missed a bit.

“What happened to your eye Merle?” He stopped, laughing to himself. “Gods, what happened to your arm?” Merle looked lightly uncomfortable.

“Well, I was gonna say, what happened to your complexion?” He laughed nervously.

“I guess we both look a little worse for wear right now.” He stopped to motion –

“Oh, well, I don’t know, I kind of like how I look. You look like… oh, god, like puke.” John laughed, and looked at the walls, at himself.

“Will you sit?”

“Yeah. Yeah, sure!” Merle moved over to the seat. “If I can reach it.” He climbed the chair, getting comfortable. And it was surprisingly comfortable for a chair that looked as if it was made of marble.

“I want to apologise in advance for being out of conversational practise.” John paused and started setting up the game. “The last conversation that we had was the last conversation that _I_ had altogether, so… it’s good to see you again.”

“Well thanks, John!” Merle smiled, and looked down at the board. “How long ago was that conversation?”

John took a moment to calculate. “Oh.. I don’t know, forty years?” he sighed. “Jeez, that’s a while.” He began the game, hearing a voice, hearing the hunger whisper to him. Merle doesn’t make a move.

_How did he get away with it? Ask him._

“I’ve gotta know, Merle, how’d you pull it off? How did you- how did you hide from me for so long?”

Merle hesitates. “Uh… hide… what, Johnny boy?”

“The light. Merle, please don’t do that. The light of creation.”

“Ah.”

“I couldn’t find it for over a decade, Merle, it was a bad situation.” A breath. “How did you – how did you manage to hide it for that long?”

“Uh, we were just really tricky, really cunning, and I… hell, John, I don’t know. “ He paused, and John chuckled. “I don’t know what the hell we did. I barely remember where I went to the bathroom last, I don’t know what we did with the light.” John stops, and realises he’s not going to get anything.

_Dig deeper._

John panics for a moment, and makes his decision. “Merle, you should know: I’m not really in charge here anymore. When the Hunger stopped being fed, its priorities changed. It’s not a sentient being looking for ascension anymore, looking to surpass existence and the rules that govern it. It’s just hungry. The purpose that brought my world together and turned it into this, it— it doesn’t care about that purpose anymore, Merle. It just wants to consume, and it’s not going to keep me around for much longer, Merle. I failed it for over a decade. It’s not just gonna let that pass. I— I don’t want you to keep any secrets from me, Merle. I just— I didn’t bring you here to pump you for information, I genuinely just brought you here because I needed... to say goodbye to someone. I just— I genuinely just want to chat.”

Merle’s face softened. “Is that what’s going on with these rifts in your face? This – this boss of yours is messing you up like that?”

“Indirectly.” John looks at the board. “I suppose, yes.”

Merle perks up at that. “Well, let me help you! Well, wait, when I had magic, I could’ve helped you, but, you know… I don’t have magic anymore.”

John felt a burst of almost-heat in his chest, and he smiled. “That’s very kind of you, old friend. I— I’m glad to hear you say that, actually. I didn’t know how this meeting was gonna go. You know the rules of Parley. I brought you here, and so I suppose you could have killed me if you wanted to—“ And immediately, white eyes appeared on every surface in the room.

_Watch what you say._

“I guess that they would prefer that you didn’t kill me. Can we just talk? Can you tell me a story about your life, Merle? Tell me anything. Maybe we can play another game.” He motions to the board. “Just tell me about the last decade, Merle. We have so much to catch up on.”

“Well okay, I’ll do that.” John nods his head, and Merle took a white piece. White goes first.

“Tell me something about your life, Merle.”

“All right, John. I’ll tell you sum’thin’. I’ve got a couple of kids.” And John laughed in response. It’s a sad laugh.

“I got kids! I do! I got kids.” Merle said over John’s gentle laughter. And all John could think was; I know, I know, I’m so sorry.

And slowly, as they play, John could see Merle getting confused at his movements. And he could feel himself sweat. “How old are they? That sounds wonderful.”

“Uh… Mavis and Mookie, a girl and a boy. Mavis is…” Merle paused. “You know, teenage-ish. And Mookie is younger-er than that. I’m not real good yet at the, you know, dad thing, but I’m learning. I’m getting better about it.”

And John looked at Merle, and looked down at the board, and his mind was swimming. He thought of his daughters, his children. Even after it’s been so long he could still see them, on a Sunday morning, waking him and his husband – his Marv – up and coming in to climb in to sleep and snuggle with them. He could imagine seeing his oldest, still close to him, worrying about him, going to see him. He thought about Merle, and he felt himself pause.

“I’m not worried about you, Merle. You’ll get there.”

**Author's Note:**

> anyway im gay tell me what uyou think


End file.
